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by quidditchchick



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Crash-landing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-08 12:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3209285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quidditchchick/pseuds/quidditchchick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been one year since Rei's shuttle lost communication and Rei presumed dead, but Nagisa never wanted to give up hope that he would return. After such a long year of grief and sleepless nights, Rei is finally coming home to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this for Reigisa Week, Day 4: Future Fish! It goes with the art I drew for Day 3!

 

Nagisa rolled over in bed, sleepily reached for the alarm that had been going off for a few minutes, and still managed to lay there in that weird position for a few more before he finally hauled himself out of bed and into the shower.

Showers never failed to wake him up in the morning and he always felt refreshed after getting out despite being half-dead every time he woke up. He put on a bath robe and walked to the kitchen to make his morning tea. As he stuck the bag in the hot water to steep, he looked up at the calendar out of habit and quickly looked away with a pained expression.

“So it’s been a year now, huh?” He uttered to himself as he watched the water in his cup slowly change color. He gently clenched his fists atop the counter and grit his teeth. Of _course_ it’s been a year. It’s not like he didn’t know this day was coming, he even had it marked on the calendar for crying out loud! Why did he have to act like it was such a surprise?

His eyes stung with tears and he quickly ran into the living room to get some tissues. He sat on the couch to wipe his eyes and he rested his head in his hands to take a few deep breaths before it got any worse.

It had been quite a while since he’s lost himself like that; he’d actually been pretty good about keeping himself together this month, but every so often he’d think too much about it and feel sad and empty again. He was able to go to work just fine, and he usually felt okay when he was with co-workers or out to lunch with Gou…it was just the lonely nights that got to him.

It was far better than the first few months had been, though, where he’d break down crying every time he passed by Rei’s room and eventually found himself sprawled on Rei’s bed and clinging to the pillows that still held his scent. Sometimes he’d doze off while on Rei’s bed, but that never helped anything because he always expected Rei to be right there next to him when he woke up before reality suddenly hit him.

He finally stopped sleeping in there because it hurt him more than helped him, but he still found a bit of comfort going in there sometimes to fluff the pillows and smooth out the blankets. He even opened the closet and fiddled with Rei’s clothes often to make sure they were still in the order that he liked.

Nagisa switched on the TV and finally sat up to get his tea from the kitchen. He was able to hear the voice of the bubbly news reporter clearly as he got out the milk and honey to mix into his tea.

_"—and thanks to all the donations, they are now able to keep the shelter open! And now onto…huh? Oh…oh! I just received some breaking news from NASA!”_

Nagisa stopped stirring his tea and perked up his head so he could hear better; he wondered if everything was okay at work. He quickly finished stirring and picked up the cup before walking back into the living room. He stood between the rooms and sipped at his tea as he watched the TV.

_"It seems that a shuttle that was previously known to have been lost in space made contact with officials early this morning and is finally returning to Earth!”_

Nagisa’s eyes rounded and he nearly choked on his tea upon hearing what the reporter just said. Did he…hear that wrong?

Nagisa rushed to the couch to find the remote and turned up the volume; his eyes were fixed to the screen and he made no sound, he didn’t even dare to breathe so he wouldn’t miss anything.

The news reporter had her hand to her ear piece and was seemingly getting more information before she turned back to the camera. _“Yes, it is confirmed to be the Iwatobi shuttle that lost contact a year ago with lone pilot Ryugazaki Rei. He will be—”_

 _CRASH!_ The tea cup fell out of Nagisa’s hand and onto the floor as he stared at the television in shock. A picture of a smiling Rei popped up onto the screen as the reporter spoke of his achievements and Nagisa felt his legs give out from under him.

This was…this was _real_ , right? He wasn’t dreaming? He looked to his arm and thought about pinching it, and even though it seemed so cliché, he did it anyway and it hurt and tears started streaming down his face. Not from the pain of the pinch, but from relief and from utter joy. _Rei was alive!_ And he was coming home!

Nagisa finally made himself stand and he ran to his room to get dressed. He grabbed the sweater that was on his bed and slipped it on along with a pair of pants and he grabbed his keys and rushed to the door to slip on his shoes. He was about ready to leave when his phone started ringing; he took it out of his pocket and saw that it was his boss calling. He smiled because he knew exactly why she was calling him. She promised that she would call him immediately if there was any news about Rei.

He answered the phone. “Maki-chan! I just saw the news, I’m on my way right now!” he said with a shaky voice.

" _Well make sure you drive safe, okay?”_ She laughed.

“I will, thank you!” Nagisa tucked his phone away, stepped outside, and locked the door behind him. He hopped on his scooter and puttered off to work as fast and as safely as he could, hoping that the tears wouldn’t fog up his goggles and hinder his vision too badly.

Once he was safely parked in his usual spot at work, he ran through the automatic doors and swiped his ID card to run to Maki’s office. She spotted him through her window before he was close enough to knock on the door and she got up to meet him outside her office.

“Hazuki! We must hurry to the landing dock, the shuttle should be coming in soon!”

“Yes, of course!” Nagisa followed Maki as they nearly jogged across the building and into the elevator.

“I must warn you, though, the shuttle isn’t in good condition. Apparently it crashed on that planet and that’s when we lost communication with him. Given the state the shuttle is in from what he described, we’re all very surprised he was able to fix it at all.”

“Rei-chan is really good at what he does, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“I know, Hazuki. I just wanted to make sure you knew that this will not be a smooth landing. That shuttle’s been through hell.

Nagisa took a deep breath; he had faith in Rei, but he knew she was right. He had to stay calm and not let a possible crash-landing break him any more than he already was. “I understand.”

The elevator dinged and the two of them stepped out and made their way to the landing dock. Nagisa took a look up at the sky while Maki went to talk to some people in the control room. The sky was empty other than some clouds and a few birds passing by, but Nagisa didn’t look away; and he wouldn’t until the shuttle was close enough for him to see.

Nagisa raised his thumb to his mouth and began chewing at his nail, a bad habit that Rei constantly reminded Nagisa not to do because it was bad for his teeth, but he was too anxious and couldn’t care less about his teeth right now. His eyes were locked on the sky; he was so focused that he even started to drown out the sounds coming from the control room, so focused that he didn’t even hear his boss calling him.

“…ki! Hazuki!”

Nagisa blinked and turned his head to look at Maki. “Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Get over here.”

“Oh I…” Nagisa looked back up at the sky but still didn’t see anything. He didn’t want to stop looking, but he should probably listen to Maki. “Yes?” Nagisa followed her into the control room and he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a familiar voice over the radio.

_“Yes, the shuttle should be able to re-enter the atmosphere fine, it’s just the landing I’m worried about.”_

“Well worry about that once you get to it, just focus on this right now.”

_“Yes, ma’am!”_

Nagisa let out a small gasp and covered his mouth with his hand. He hadn’t heard Rei’s voice in so long, and even though it wasn’t clear through all of the noise, it was like music to his ears. Nagisa tried to hold back a small sob, but he couldn’t and let a few tears prick at his eyes. He took more deep breaths and let it pass; there would be time for crying later, like when he finally got to hold Rei in his arms again.

It was silent on Rei’s end for the next 15 minutes or so, and Nagisa started to worry a bit, but Maki reassured him everything was fine because Rei needed to focus right now and they were still receiving a signal from the shuttle.

After not hearing anything from Rei after 30 minutes, Nagisa started to anxiously pace back and forth and was eventually told to relax and sit down. He sat in a nearby chair and definitely made an attempt, but how could he just sit and relax? This wasn’t just some co-worker that was returning after being lost for a year, this was _Rei_! _His_ Rei!

The Rei who had been his first real best friend in high school. The Rei who had been his roommate ever since they graduated. The Rei who wanted so badly to make him happy that he decided to double-major in both chemistry _and_ astrophysics while they were in college even though Nagisa told him multiple times that he didn’t need add another major because he was already over-worked as it was. The Rei that he didn’t deserve, but somehow managed to keep by his side all this time. The Rei that he loved so very very much, but was too much of a coward to not tell him before he left just because he was jealous that Rei got to go into space and he didn’t.

Nagisa hadn’t realized he started crying until Maki sat next to him and placed a box of tissues into his lap.

“I know you two were closer than just co-workers.” She said with a smile. “But as you said before, Ryugazaki knows what he’s doing. We wouldn’t have sent him up there if he didn’t.”

Nagisa sniffed and took a tissue. “I know, I have a lot of faith in Rei-chan. I never gave up in hoping that he was still alive, but now that I know he is but isn’t back yet is just a bit nerve-wracking, y’know?” He blew his nose.

She nodded. “Yes, I get it. Why don’t you head on back outside and watch the sky for us? You seemed more content with doing that.”

Nagisa looked back to Maki after throwing his used tissue into the waste bin and stood up happily. “Yes! I’d much rather be doing that.” He thanked Maki and hurried back outside to watch the sky. Nagisa put his thumb up to his mouth and started chewing again as he stared into the clouds and got lost in his thoughts.

 

_“Make sure you bring back souvenirs.”_

_Rei laughed. “Bringing back samples is part of the mission, Nagisa-kun.”_

_“I know that! I meant just specially for me.”_

_“This is a new planet we’re exploring, I highly doubt they’d let us keep anything.”_

_Nagisa pouted. “You’re no fun!”_

_“I’m just following protocol, Nagisa-kun! That’s probably the reason they chose me for this mission since I am very good at following the rules.”_

_Nagisa felt that pang of jealously again and looked away. “Yeah…it’d probably be a bad idea to send such a hyper trouble-maker on such a serious mission.”_

_“I…I’m sorry, Nagisa-kun. I didn’t mean to—”_

_“It’s fine.” Nagisa muttered somewhat bitterly, but he looked back to Rei with the best smile he could muster. He didn’t want Rei to leave thinking that Nagisa hated him or something. “They chose you because you’re good at what you do, you_ are _the best person for this kind of mission…I know that. There’s always something to be discovered. I’ll get another chance, so don’t worry about it.”_

_“I wish…you could come with me.”_

_Nagisa’s heart fluttered at the words and he could only imagine how romantic it would be to be all alone in space together, star gazing in a different galaxy. He looked up at Rei’s solemn face and his heart sped up._

_Should he say something? Would now be a bad time? It seemed to work fine in movies when the lover of the hero would confess their love before they were sent off into battle with a kiss and a whole lot of new-found confidence. Nagisa swallowed; it was too cliché and Nagisa would probably die of embarrassment, but he knew Rei would think it was beautiful…that is if he felt the same way. Nagisa clenched onto Rei’s arm “Rei-chan, I…”_

_Rei leaned in a bit closer. “Yes, Nagisa-kun?”_

_Nagisa gazed into Rei’s eyes and his heart was racing. He bit his lip out of nervousness but “I…wish I could too.” was all he could say. Nagisa internally kicked himself when he saw a hint of disappointment on Rei’s face._

_“Ah, yes! It’d would be quite the adventure, wouldn’t it?”_

_“Yeah, we’ve always made a great team! Maybe one day we’ll have our very own mission together, huh?”_

_“Yeah, maybe one day…” Rei smiled and stared at Nagisa with lidded eyes before the sound of the intercom calling his name to the launch bay made him jump. “Ah well, I suppose this is goodbye.”_

_Nagisa’s eyes lowered and he nodded in agreement before Rei reached out and gave him a tight hug. Rei felt so big and squishy inside the suit, and Nagisa couldn’t help but laugh to himself about it. He squeezed Rei right back and almost whimpered when Rei had to let him go._

 

“Hazuki!”

Nagisa snapped out of his memory and looked at Maki with a dazed expression. “Huh?”

“Ryugazaki just radioed in a few minutes ago, we should be able to see the shuttle soon!”

Nagisa’s eyes widened out of their daze and he looked back up at the sky, his heart pounding in his chest. Nagisa continued to chew his thumbnail and didn’t tear his eyes away until finally he saw the shuttle emerging from the clouds. “I see it…I SEE IT!” Nagisa jumped up and down.

“Yes, you’re in view now, Ryugazaki-san!” Nagisa heard someone shout into the radio from inside the control room. A muffled voice followed after that, but Nagisa couldn’t quite hear what Rei said. “I…yes, we understand. Ueda-san! We need to prepare for a crash-landing! Make sure we have the medics and firefighters standing by!”

Nagisa tensed up at the sound of a ‘crash-landing’, but he was warned this might happen. He just needed to stay calm. Rei could do this, Rei was well-trained, better than anyone in their graduating class. He could do this, he _could!_

The shuttle was getting closer and closer and Nagisa could see how right Maki was about it having been through hell; Nagisa was surprised it even made it back at all. He started his nail-biting again once the shuttle got closer and closer to the runway, and all Nagisa wanted to do was look away, but he couldn’t. He had to keep looking; he had to make sure Rei’s landing was okay. The shuttle was suddenly mere feet from the ground and Nagisa took a deep breath and tried hard to not close his eyes.

A few seconds later, the shuttle impacted the ground with a very loud crash and the harsh sound of metal scraping across the concrete. The sound was hard on Nagisa’s ears, and made him flinch, but he still didn’t tear his eyes away no matter how much he might have wanted to. It was true what they said about not being able to look away from a horrible accident.

 The shuttle slid a ways more, and just when Nagisa thought it was over, it looked like it had caught on something and it started to _roll_ across the runway. Nagisa let out a loud gasp and nearly stepped off of the platform and onto the runway, but Maki had caught his arm before he did.

“Whoa there, Hazuki! You all right?”

Nagisa felt his body start shaking and he regretted the decision to not look away because it physically pained him to watch the shuttle break apart while Rei was still inside and probably getting all beat up and bruised…or _worse_. Nagisa covered his mouth to hide a sob that was trying to escape from it and he slowly let his body fall onto the ground; he was thankful that Maki was still holding onto him so she could help him ease into the fall.

Tears stung at Nagisa’s eyes and he finally urged himself to look away. He was already hurting enough, why did he make himself watch this? He had gone through months with no hope and now that there was a chance, he was just going to watch Rei die right in front of him and there was nothing he could do about it.

He just wanted this to be over already, he couldn’t stand watching anymore. He buried his face in his arms and clenched his eyes shut, only wishing he could do the same for his ears to block out the horrid sounds of the crash; but just as soon as he reached his hands up to his ears, the sounds stopped.

Nagisa sat still for a few moments before he unclenched his eyes and shakily lifted his head to look at the runway. The shuttle was finally still and Nagisa spotted the firefighters and medics running out onto the scene to take action. Nagisa swallowed harshly and managed to stand himself up, albeit with some difficulty because he legs felt like jelly.

Once Nagisa looked to the scene again, the door of the shuttle was being pried open and one of the firefighters bent down to crawl inside, but jumped back in surprise as Rei had immediately began to crawl out. Nagisa nearly screamed when he saw how bad Rei looked. He was cut up and dirty, his lab coat was thrashed…lab coat? Why was he wearing his lab coat and not the space suit?! The suit could have...oh, whatever! That didn’t matter now because Rei was alive! He was alive and walking away from the wreckage.

Nagisa’s legs started to move closer to the runway, but he made himself stop; he wasn’t even sure if he was allowed. He looked back to Maki who gave him a nod to go ahead. Nagisa gulped in some air before he stepped off of the platform and onto the concrete. He slowly put one foot in front of the other and didn’t take his eyes off of Rei who was still quite far away from him; but once he stepped into the sunlight, Rei finally looked his way and froze on the spot.

Nagisa stopped too, and he could feel his heart beating in his fingertips. He looked straight at Rei’s face and nearly cried. He never thought he’d see those beautiful purple eyes again, but there they were, staring right back at him. Nagisa swallowed again and was suddenly worried about the shocked look on Rei’s face.

What if…what if he somehow didn’t recognize him? What if something happened and he didn’t remember him? Nagisa’s lip started to tremble and his eyes started watering again, but then Rei opened his mouth…

“Nagisa…kun?”

Nagisa gasped quietly and finally let the tears fall down his face before he started sprinting the rest of the way. “REI-CHAN!” He fell onto Rei and squeezed his arms tightly around him, his voice small and broken as he sputtered out “Rei-chan, Rei-chan, Rei-chan!”

Nagisa then felt Rei finally embrace him and he heard a loud sob next to his ear before he buried his teary and snotty face into Rei’s shoulder, not paying any mind to the dirty smell of his lab coat. “I thought…I thought you were dead.”

“I know,” Rei choked as he lifted a hand to stroke Nagisa’s hair. “I’m so sorry, Nagisa-kun. I should have come back to you sooner. I’m so sorry…so, _so_ sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s okay…you’re here now. You’re…you’re really here!” Nagisa clenched onto him tighter and his legs felt weak, but he had to keep standing. Rei was supposed to be the one that just crash-landed; Nagisa should be the one supporting _him_ , not the other way around.

They stood there in their embrace for so long that it was probably awkward for everyone else, but Nagisa didn’t care that everyone was staring at them; Rei was finally home, and he was in his arms and he was beautiful and Nagisa couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have him back after so long…after all those months of loneliness and sleepless nights and barely grasping onto the sliver of hope that he was still alive. Rei… _his Rei_ …was home!

Rei slowly stopped stroking Nagisa’s hair, and Nagisa heard him swallow loudly before he took a deep breath and pulled Nagisa away slightly to look at his face. His eyes were red with tears just as Nagisa assumed his were as well, but he was smiling that smile that always made Nagisa’s heart melt. He never thought he’d see his face again, and as he looked at Rei…really _looked_ at him, he suddenly felt a pang of courage racing through him. “Nagisa-kun…I—”

“I love you!” Nagisa interrupted before he lost the courage and changed his mind. “I love you so much and I should have told you before you left, but I didn’t because I was too cowardly and I was too jealous of you being the one to go up into space and I—mmmff!” Nagisa felt a pair of lips crash onto his own and it took a few seconds before he realized what was happening.

He smiled against Rei’s lips and kissed him back before he wrapped his arms around Rei’s neck to steady himself. Rei ran his hands over Nagisa’s cheeks and deepened the kiss a bit more before pulling his lips away and pressing his forehead to Nagisa’s. “I love you too.” He said through a teary smile.

Nagisa felt like his heart was about to burst from happiness, and he leaned in to give Rei another kiss.

“I understand you two missed each other, but please, Ryugazaki-san _needs_ to get to the hospital.” One of the medics interjected awkwardly.

Nagisa reluctantly pulled away from Rei. “Ah, right! Sorry for keeping you all waiting.” Nagisa looked back to Rei with a soft smile. “I’ll meet you there, okay?”

Rei nodded. “Please do.” He kissed Nagisa’s forehead gently. “We have a lot of catching up to do.” Rei turned away and followed the medic to the ambulance that had been waiting for him. Rei was helped into it and looked back to Nagisa before they took off and cocked a brow. “Are you wearing my sweater?”

Nagisa looked down at himself and blushed furiously once he realized it was indeed one of Rei’s. Nagisa started wearing Rei’s clothes to bed about a month and a half ago whenever he was having a rough night…they helped comfort him; but he didn’t even notice that _this_ was the sweater he put on in a rush this morning.

“I..um…I can explain that!”

Rei smiled fondly. “It’s fine. You can tell me all about it later.” Rei chuckled and the medics closed the doors to the vehicle. The siren switched on just as soon as the engine started and they took off for the hospital.

Nagisa stood there until the vehicle was out of his site and he hurried back onto the platform where he saw Maki standing there waiting. Nagisa fought the urge to look away out of shame for such an embarrassing romantic display, and he felt even worse for wanting to ask for the day off so he could keep Rei company at the hospital.

“Um, Maki-chan…would it be okay if I—”

“Go ahead, Hazuki.” She sighed, but with a smile. “You went through an entire year of grief without missing a single day of work, so I think you’ve deserved it.”

Nagisa lit up and he gave her a small but firm hug. “Thank you, Maki-chan! Thank you so much!” He bowed gratefully once he let her go and then ran off to go meet Rei at the hospital.

Nagisa didn’t have to sit in the waiting room for very long before the doctor told him it was all right to go see Rei. He was so relieved when he heard that all of Rei’s vitals were fine, and he managed to come out of the crash with only a few bruised ribs and a minor fracture to his left ankle; but that surprised Nagisa because Rei walked on his foot just fine and if he was in pain, he sure didn’t show it.

Nagisa peaked into the room and said, "knock, knock!” before Rei smiled and waved for him to come in. Nagisa closed the door behind him and nearly leaped into the chair next to Rei’s bed. Rei immediately leaned to the side and kissed Nagisa softly on the lips before groaning in pain and pulling back.

“Hey! Don’t hurt yourself!” Nagisa scolded.

“I’ve been waiting to kiss you since high school, I’m not gonna let a few bruised ribs stop me.”

Nagisa’s face flushed and he looked away in embarrassment. Rei had been in love with him _that_ long? “Rei-chan…”

“It’s true.” Rei smiled and he took Nagisa’s hand in his.

Nagisa could have exploded from hearing those words, but instead he looked to Rei with his red face and smiled. “I thought I was the only one.”

The smile that spread on Rei’s face was the happiest Nagisa had ever seen. Rei then clenched Nagisa’s hand tighter and he brought it up to his mouth to kiss it.

“So,” Nagisa started. “How did you escape such a bad crash with only minor injuries?”

Rei shrugged. “Well, I’d definitely have to thank George Cayley for inventing the seatbelt…”

Nagisa scoffed and rested his head on the bed as he laughed. “Oh my God, Rei-chan, I missed you so much.”

Nagisa felt Rei’s hand on his head as he ran his fingers through it. “I missed you too.” He paused. “More than you will ever know.”

Nagisa lifted his head and then proceeded to crawl into the bed next to Rei. He expected to hear protests about how the bed was way too small for both of them to fit, but Rei said nothing and just pulled Nagisa closer to him. Nagisa nuzzled into Rei’s chest and relaxed at the sound of his breathing and his steady heartbeat. Not only was Rei finally home, but so was Nagisa.


End file.
